DREAM WAKE --- {COMPLETED} ☑️

THE ESCAPE - II

Chapter 37

GBOYEGA

I smelt it before I saw it.

It gave off a fresh, tangy odour and the wind had picked up quite a lot. I was glad for that, because my shirt had begun to stick to my body with sweat.

When I looked at the map, I realised I should have come across it earlier. Was there another route that would have taken me there faster, perhaps? I wondered.

I quickened my tired steps.

Maybe the lake had dried up.

I came across a crooked path littered with dead dry leaves and mossy grass.

Moss?

Don't they grow where water resides? I must be close.

I quickened my steps towards it. Wherever it led me, I would follow.

I closed my eyes against the glare of the sunlight as I had long ditched the dark glasses I was wearing. I was sweating too profusely to bother with it.

Since my eyes were closed, I lost my footing and stumbled. I felt myself tumble down an incline and my back pack went flying. My body took a serious hit as I kept tumbling. I only prayed I didn't break any bones on the way down. I would be useless to myself and the main reason for coming on this journey.

When I had stopped rolling, I opened my eyes to see where I was, and found I was on the edge of a lake. I closed them again and opened them immediately, but it was still there.

No it can't be!

I blinked once. Twice, yet it lay there, green and still as it shimmered under the bright light of the sun. It must be a mirage.

But mirages mostly take place in the dessert, yes?

I got up tentatively and checked my body, flexing my hands and legs to check for broken bones. Thankfully I had none, just a few scrapes and some torn skin.

Nothing that could stop me.

I turned my attention to the lake. I wondered if there were crocodiles in the water. It was still and looked deceptively calm. Well you know what they say about still waters . . . they run deep.

I tentatively put a finger into the water.

Strange!

It was cool to the touch, despite the heat from the sun.

I dipped my hands up to my elbows. It felt quite refreshing.

I looked down at myself. My body and clothes were caked in mud, sand and blood. I decided to take a chance in the water.

I wasted no time as I quickly stripped to my boxers and dived in. The water got to my chest as I stood up. I knew it was deep.

I washed my body with my hands as best I could without any soap, tending mostly to the parts that had mud and sand. My skin stung where I had scrapes and torn exposed flesh.

I was still scrubbing and enjoying the cool water on my body, when I noticed the shrubs on the other side of the lake move.

I froze in the act of bathing and took on a fighting stance in the water. I gazed hard at the shrubs to the point my eyes stung, but I didn't see any more movement.

Must have been an animal.

I quickly got out of the water and put on my clothes. I touched the blade I hid underneath the waist band of my shorts. It was sheathed, but I was poised to remove it at any moment.